Word Search, Hangman – Word Games Pack by 7 Dragons is now available for Kindle Fire in the Amazon Android App store for the introductory price of $1.00.  (Note: We are the developers of this app).

What do you get for your $1.00? You get two great games in one terrific app – Word Search and Hangman (with a twist).

What is Word Search?

Word Search is a word game that provides you with a list of words hidden vertically, horizontally and/or diagonally in a letter grid. The goal is to find all the words in the list.

How to play Word Search – Basic

A puzzle grid is generated with twelve letters across and twelve letters down. Within this list are hidden several words (nine words on the easy level and ten or twelve words on medium or hard – based upon selections on the main screen). Below the puzzle grid is a list of words based upon the puzzle title and category. These words are displayed alphabetically going down in columns starting at the left side.

Note: More advanced game modes allow for only showing the first letter of each word or no letters of the word and having characters indicated with asterisks.

Words can be hidden in the puzzle horizontally (across), vertically (down) or diagonally (angled). On the easy level there are fewer diagonal words or words displayed backwards or upside down. The harder levels add more complexity.

When you find a word you can select it by dragging your finger from the first to the last letter or the last to the first letter. You can also tap on the first and last letters to select a word. The tapping first and last letter method is strongly recommended for diagonal words.

Solving Methods:

• Visually scan back and forth and up and down to find obvious words and select and eliminate them.
• Go through the puzzle left to right/top to bottom (or vice versa) looking for the first letter of a word. When you find this letter, look in the 8 letters surrounding the letter to see if the second letter is there. Use this method to find all the words on the list.
• Look for outstanding letters such as Q,O,U,X or Z that are in the word list and use them to help find the words they are contained in.

How to play Word Search – Advanced

From the Categories list page, select a category and a puzzle to play by scrolling up and down the page and tapping the puzzle name. With 50 categories available and randomly generated word lists based upon the difficulty levels, there are literally thousands of different puzzles available to play.

Once the puzzle is generated, the timer starts on your game. A randomly generated list of theme-related words is provided below the grid (between 9-12 words depending upon the difficulty level selected).

Search through the grid to find the words in the list that are hidden in the puzzle. When you find a word you can tap the first and last letter of the word to mark it (in either order). You can also drag your finger along the word to mark it. Please note: This is more difficult for diagonal words. Tapping first and last letters for diagonal words is recommended.

If you get stuck you can tap the ‘Hint’ button to show a word.

As words are successfully marked in the grid, they are highlighted in the word list so that you can see the progress made.

Upon completion of the puzzle, you will be provided a success message. This message will also indicate if this is a new best time for the current puzzle and difficulty level.

Word Search Game Menu Items

Restart This Game: Restarts the current game and resets the timer.

New Game: Removes the current game and starts a new game with randomly generated words.

Game Mode: Allows you to choose from three game modes:

• Visible Words Mode – All letters of the words in the word list are visible. (Easiest mode)
• First Letter Visible Mode – The first letters of each word in the list are shown and the remaining letters of the words in the word list are indicated with the number of characters by asterisks. As words are marked, they show in the list to allow you to determine where additional words fit alphabetically.
• Invisible Words Mode – All letters of the words in the word list are indicated with the number of characters by asterisks. As words are marked, they show in the list to allow you to determine where additional words fit alphabetically. (Hardest mode)

Strikethrough On/Off: Turns on (or off) the strikethrough of marked words in the grid.

Back to Categories: Returns you to the Categories list page.

Close: Closes the Menu and returns you to the current game.

Word Search Main Page Menu Items

Play Word Search: Takes you to the Categories list page where you can select to continue a puzzle or start a new puzzle.

Level: Displays the currently selected level of difficulty. Tap the button to select between Easy, Medium and Hard difficulty levels. You can also choose the Game Mode on this selection screen.

Stats & Trophies: Takes you to the Statistics and Trophies page. Try to improve your statistics and earn all the trophies available.

Settings: Allows you to choose between including 10 Words or 12 Words in Medium and Hard Levels. Also allows for resetting the Stats & Trophies. (Make sure you want to do this before approving this move as all Word Search Stats & Trophies will be cleared out.

Help: Opens this Help file.

Back: Returns you to the Word Games Pack Home screen.

What is Hangman?

Hangman is a word game where you guess letters in order to try to guess a word or phrase in a given category. Incorrect guesses result in details being added to the Hangman drawing. The goal is to correctly guess the answer before the Hangman drawing is complete.

How to play Hangman – Basic

A puzzle grid is generated with blocks to indicate the characters in a word or phrase. Note: Some words may wrap from the end of the first line to the second line. The category is listed at the top of the screen for easy reference. Guess one letter at a time by selecting the desired choice on the game keyboard. Correct guesses will result in that letter being placed in all locations it appears in the word or phrase. Incorrect guesses will be crossed out and an additional feature will be placed in the Hangman drawing.

If you get stuck you can tap the ‘Hint’ button one time per game to reveal a letter. The Hint is guaranteed to provide you with a correct letter. Be sure and use your Hint wisely.

Enjoy beating the Hangman on your own or play with family and friends for enjoyable group entertainment.

Solving Methods:

• Start guessing with vowels (A,E,I,O,U) to fill in critical letters. In English, almost every word has at least one vowel.
• Try using the 12 most commonly used letters in the English language. In descending order, they are E,T,A,O,I,N,S,H,R,D,L,U.

Upon completion of the puzzle, you will be provided a success message. This message will also indicate if this is a new best time for the current puzzle and difficulty level.

Use the Pause/Play option to pause (or cancel the pause) the game if you are interrupted. ‘Next Word’ allows you to skip the current word or phrase. ‘Exit’ returns you to the Hangman Categories screen.

Hangman Main Page Menu Items

Play Hangman: Takes you to the Categories list page where you can select a game category. On the Categories page you can also change the Difficulty of game play between Easy and Hard. Note: There are different words/phrases in each level of difficulty.

Settings:
Allows you to choose between 7 or 9 incorrect guesses per game.

Choose which character you want to save. Select between a randomly generated character or a specific character.

The Settings screen also allows for resetting the Stats & Trophies. (Make sure you want to do this before approving this move as all Word Search Stats & Trophies will be cleared out.

Help: Opens this Help file.

Stats & Trophies: Takes you to the Statistics and Trophies page.

Exit: Returns you to the Word Games Pack Home screen.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please leave a comment on this post or contact us directly at booksummit@ymail.com

Solitaire Magic by 7 Dragons is now available in the Android App Store for Kindle Fire devices. Please Note: We are the developers of this app.  Solitaire Magic provides countless hours of fun for the low introductory price of just $1.00.  This app is suitable for all ages.

What do you get for your $1.00?  You get three solitaire games in one simple app, plus a bonus game to extend your gaming fun.  Choose from Solitaire, Mahjong Solitaire, and Spider Solitaire.

Each game has both detailed Help files as well as “How to Play” sections.  Collects Stats & Trophies for game play.  Enjoy the optional background music and game sounds or turn them off in Settings.

Solitaire

Solitaire is also commonly known as Klondike or Canfield.

Features in Solitaire include:

• Draw 3 and Draw 1 modes
• 11 backgrounds
• 13 deck backs
• 6 deck fronts including 2 large font decks for easy viewing
• Scoring, Timer, Undo, Restart, New Game, Hints
• Extensive “How to Play” and Help files to make it easy to learn to play Solitaire if you are new to the game.

Initial Layout:
A single deck of cards is shuffled and dealt in seven columns to form the tableau. From left to right, one card is placed face up in the leftmost column, then six cards face down in each column to the right. Another card is placed face up on the leftmost column with a card face down and then remaining columns have a card dealt face down on them. This continues until the final column has a card dealt face up.

The remaining cards are placed in a stock pile in the upper right-hand corner.

Object of the Game:
The object of the game is to move the four aces to the foundation piles at the left of the game board and build up each suit from ace to king. Once all four foundation piles are complete, the game is won.

Game Play:
The tableau piles are built down in alternating colors (black can be placed on red and red on black). An empty tableau pile can be filled with a King or with a pile of cards starting with a King. To move the cards, drag a card (or pile of cards) from one pile to the desired pile. Double tap on any qualifying card to move it to a foundation pile.

Cards dealt from the stock pile can be used to fill in spots in the tableau piles or in the foundation piles.

As an added method for ease in completing a game, once all cards are face up (no face down cards in the tableau or cards remaining in the deck) and in tableau piles or foundation piles the game will auto complete for you and move the remaining cards to their foundation piles.

Time: Tracks the time in play for the current game.

Score: Your score for the current game.
10 points are awarded for moving a card to a foundation pile.
5 points are awarded for moving a card from the deck to a tableau pile.
5 points are awarded for turning over a card in a tableau pile.
15 points are deducted for moving a card from a foundation pile back to a tableau pile.
2 points are deducted for every 10 seconds of play.
In the Draw Three option, 20 points are deducted each time you go through the deck after the third time.
In the Draw One option, 100 points are deducted each time you go through the deck after the first time.

Mahjong Solitaire

Mahjong Solitaire is a traditional tile matching game. 

Features in Mahjong Solitaire include:

• 3 Difficulty Levels - Easy, Medium and Hard
• 19 layouts to choose from13 deck backs including a custom spider deck back
• 3 tile designs including Traditional, Flower, and Fishes
• 3 tile colors to choose from
• Scoring, Timer, # of Available Matches, Undo, Restart, New Game, Hints, Show Available Tiles
• Extensive “How to Play” and Help files to make it easy to learn to play Mahjong Solitaire if you are new to the game.

Selecting a Layout:
Nineteen different layouts are available to choose from. Layouts are divided between Easy, Medium and Hard options. Tap on the image above the desired layout name. The selected puzzle will be indicated by a Buddha image. Upon successful completion of a puzzle, the image will change to a pagoda view.

Initial Layout:
Tiles are randomly arranged face-up in the selected layout with some tiles covered by others. Tiles are available for play when they are “free”. A free tile is a tile that has no other tiles on top of it and can be slid out to either the left or the right.

Object of the Game:

The object of the game is to match pairs of free tiles until the board is cleared. In the traditional design, cards with pipes, buttons and numbers on them will match with an identical tile. In the fishes and flower design, cards not designated as Season or Flower tiles will also match an identical tile. Season tiles can match other season tiles and are indicated with a sun in the upper right hand corner. Flower tiles can match other flower tiles and are indicated by a leaf or flower in the upper right hand corner.

Game Play:
Tap on a free tile and then tap on a matching free tile to create a match and remove the tiles from the board. The tiles must be the same or the match will not occur. Because there are multiple items of each image (traditionally four of each tile), matching the wrong pair may result in the board getting blocked. The current number of Matches available is shown in the Matches window.

Note – Flower tiles match other Flower tiles regardless of the image on the tile. Season tiles match other Season tiles regardless of the image on the tile.

• Traditional Tile Set: Flower tiles are indicated by a pink tulip in the upper right-hand corner. Season tiles are indicated by a sun in the upper right-hand corner.
• Flower Tile Set: Flower tiles are indicated by an orange flower in the upper right-hand corner. Season tiles are indicated by a snowflake in the upper right-hand corner.
• Fishes Tile Set: Flower tiles are indicated by a pink pearl in the upper right-hand corner. Season tiles are indicated by a starfish in the upper right-hand corner.

Different strategies may be employed depending upon your favorite method of game play, but typically users remove the topmost tile in a stack and outer tiles in order to free up more tiles as the game progresses.

The game is won when all matching tiles are successfully removed from the grid. The game is over when there are no more free tiles that can be matched successfully.

Upon successfully clearing the board, you will be automatically moved to the next layout. To select a different layout, do so by choosing Menu and then Layout.

Time: Tracks the time in play for the current game.

Score: Your score for the current game.

Spider Solitaire

Spider Solitaire is a version of Solitaire that involves a bit of luck and planning. 

Features in Spider Solitaire include:

• 3 Difficulties – Easy (1 suit), Medium (2 suits) and Hard (4 suits)
• 10 backgrounds including custom designed spider backgrounds
• 13 deck backs including a custom spider deck back
• 8 deck fronts including 2 spider themed deck fronts
• Scoring, Timer, Undo, Restart, New Game, Hints
• Extensive “How to Play” and Help files to make it easy to learn to play Spider Solitaire if you are new to the game.

Initial Layout:
Two decks of cards are shuffled and dealt in ten piles to form the tableau. From left to right, the first four piles contain six cards each and the last six piles contain five cards each. The top card in each pile is dealt face up; the remaining cards in each pile are dealt face down.

The remaining cards are placed in a stock pile in the lower right-hand corner.

Object of the Game:
The object of the game is to form eight sets of cards of the same suit descending from King to Ace within a column. Once all eight sets of cards are complete, the game is won.

Game Play:
The columns are built down in any suit. An empty column can be filled with any card or a moveable sequence of cards. A moveable sequence of cards consists of cards of the same suit in descending sequence (such as 5, 4, 3, 2 of spades). To move the cards, drag a card (or pile of cards) from one pile to the desired pile. When a set of cards of the same suit from King to Ace is complete it is automatically removed to the lower left-hand corner.

The columns can be built down in one or more suits. (If you are playing on the Easy difficulty, there is only one suit available). You can move one card or a moveable sequence of cards from one pile to another. A moveable sequence of cards consists of cards of the same suit in descending sequence (such as 8, 7, 6 of diamonds). When all face up cards in a column are removed, the next face down card will be turned face up.

Once a pile is emptied, it is eligible to have other cards moved onto it. Any card (or a moveable sequence of cards) can be moved to an empty tableau pile. Use empty tableau piles as a method of helping shift cards.

Clicking on the stock pile deals one card face up on the end of each column. All columns must contain a card before more cards can be dealt from the stock.

The game is incrementally more difficult as you shift from one suit, to two suits, to four suits. We recommend you learn the game on Easy difficulty and work your way up to the hardest difficulty.

Time: Tracks the time in play for the current game.

Score: Your score for the current game.
500 points are awarded initially.
1 point is deducted for moving a card or set of cards from one pile to another.
100 points are awarded for completing a set of cards of the same suit from King to Ace and removing them from game play.

Stats & Trophies

The Stats & Trophies button from the Solitaire Magic main screen allows you to view your High Scores, Best Times and Games Won for all the included games. 

The Trophies button will show you the trophies that have been won for completing various tasks:

Trophies are awarded in Solitaire for winning a Draw 1 game, winning a Draw 3 game, and getting a base score greater than 650.  Trophies are awarded in Mahjong Solitaire for winning any 5 different levels, winning any 10 different levels and winning any 15 different levels. Trophies are awarded in Spider Solitaire for winning a game on Easy difficulty, winning a game on Medium difficulty and winning a game on Hard difficulty.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions for Solitaire Magic, please leave a comment on this post or contact us via email at booksummit@ymail.com.

This is a review of Quote of the Day – a quotation reference tool for Kindle by Svellsoft. It is available for $1.99 in the Amazon store and was released in March, 2012.  

Available on the following Kindle versions as of 3/28/2012: Kindle, Kindle Keyboard, Kindle DX, Kindle 2^nd Generation.

Quote of the Day Review – Main Takeaways                                                

Quote of the Day is a simple, but well designed, quotation reference tool for the Kindle e-readers. The main screen displays a quote in an attractive conversation bubble with the author referenced below.  You have a choice of adding to or removing from favorites.  You can also press a “Surprise me” button for a random quote.

Browsing allows you to pick quotes from 21 categories.  You can also search for a quote, but only by the author and not by words in the quote.  This is limiting to me because I want to look up quotes, not quotes by authors.

No ability to add your own quotes. On the positive side, this app does not crash my Kindle every time I use it like the other quote application that is currently available.

Quote of the Day Review – Conclusion and Overall Rating

I would give my Quote of the Day review 3.5 stars.  Most of the quotes are pretty good, but it is a fairly limited collection for the price.  The app functioned well, but the refresh every few screens was quite annoying.  I find the title misleading because it is not really a “Quote of the Day” because you get a different quote every time you open the app and that might be more than once a day.

This is a review of Ten Hints: Authors– a trivia game for avid readers on Kindle by Funostra. It is available for $2.99 in the Amazon store and was released in March, 2012.  It is rated 5 stars on 2 customer reviews.

Available on the following Kindle versions as of 3/28/2012: Kindle, Kindle Keyboard, Kindle DX, Kindle 2^nd Generation.

Ten Hints: Authors Review – Main Takeaways                                                

Ten Hints: Authors is a trivia game geared for avid readers.  You are given up to 10 hints per author in order to try and guess who it is.  Words like him, he, she, her do help narrow down the decisions.  The more hints you lose, the less points you earn for that question. 

As you type in your suggested answer, the app is smart enough to offer some auto fill suggestions. This is very useful if you don’t know the correct spelling of the author’s name.

A full game lasts for ten minutes.  The quicker you can guess a name correctly, the more points you accumulate.

If you love books, you will love this game.

Ten Hints: Authors Review – Conclusion and Overall Rating

I would give my Ten Hints: Authors review 5 stars.  I learned a lot while playing this game and got interested in some authors I had not yet read. In addition, it was very exciting when I actually got an answer correct.

This is a review of Collexions– a pattern recognition game for Kindle by Keming Labs. It is available for $1.99  in the Amazon store and was released in March, 2012.  It is rated 4.5 stars on 2 customer reviews.

Available on the following Kindle versions as of 3/28/2012: Kindle, Kindle Keyboard, Kindle DX, Kindle 2^nd Generation.

Collexions Review – Main Takeaways                                                

Collexions is a pattern recognition game.  There are three different modes and you need to try and create matches of 3 cards out of the 12 displayed cards.  As you create matches, those cards are removed and new ones displayed in their place.  The game had a useful info screen to provide you with a heads up on what might be considered a match – ie 3 cards with 3 circles on them (one set in gray, one set in black, one set in white) or 3 cards with squares on them (one with three black squares, one with two black squares, one with one black square).

Kindle Collexions Active Content - Classic Mode game

I found the ‘Shuffle a Card’ option in the menu to be a lifesaver if I could not find any matches.  Wish they had included a shortcut key for that option.

Three modes are available: Classic Mode is a 4 minute timed game where you see how many matches you can make. There is a one point penalty each time you enter an incorrect collexion. Speed Contest is a 1 minute timed game. No penalties for incorrect collexions. Memory Quest is a 4 minutes timed game.  The full game grid is only show for a few seconds.  One point penalty for incorrect collexions.

Collexions Review – Conclusion and Overall Rating

I would give my Collexions review 4.25 stars.  I really enjoyed the classic game mode and found it to be quite addictive.  I also though speed contest mode was fun.  Memory quest mode was very frustrating to me because they only show the full card set one time and you play for four minutes.  If they showed the full set every 30 seconds or even every minute I would have enjoyed it more.  As it is, it made me feel stupid, so I quit halfway through the first memory quest game.

This is a review of Lemonade Stand– a business-strategy game for Kindle by Play Gray. It is available for $0.99  in the Amazon store and was released in March, 2012.  It is rated 5 stars on 4 customer reviews.

Available on the following Kindle versions as of 3/28/2012: Kindle Touch, Kindle, Kindle Keyboard, Kindle DX, Kindle 2^nd Generation.

Lemonade Stand Review – Main Takeaways                                                

Lemonade Stand is a business-strategy game where you have 30 days to sell lemonade during the summer and see what kind of profits you can make. 

You are provided feedback prior to and at the end of each day regarding weather, if conventions or ball games are going on, etc.  You make advanced decisions for the day on how many cups you predict you will sell, cost, sugar, advertising, etc.  Make enough money and you can purchase extras to try and help boost sales.

Kindle Lemonade Stand Active Content - game in play

This is a variation of the company’s other game, Christmas Cocoa Stand. I reviewed this back in 2011 and thought it was also a great game.

Lemonade Stand Review – Conclusion and Overall Rating

I would give my Lemonade Stand review 4.5 stars.  I enjoyed the strategy and economics concept in the game and think it would be enjoyable for children and teens.  Points were taken away because the developers didn’t bother fixing their entry screen that says “Heating up a batch of lemonade”.  But points were also given because they made this available for Kindle Touch.

Alter Ego is an interactive novel for Kindle by Choose Multiple.  I’m not a big fan of interactive novels, but this one looks interesting as you make decisions from birth through life.  Based on a computer game.  $2.99.  Available for all active content Kindle e-readers  including Kindle Touch.

Bookworm – a linking letters word game for Kindle.  Done by Electronic Arts, so is currently selling for $4.99.  If you have played this game before and enjoyed it (and I have), you might want to hold off because the EA games usually go on sale in April or May.  Available for all non-touch active content Kindle e-readers.

Hanjie Griddlers Nonograms – paint-a-picture/nonograms by DJAPE.  Perfect timing for my nonogram addiction while my legs recover from a 50K race. $0.99.  Available for all non-touch active content Kindle e-readers.

Djape Does Sudoku is a Suduko game based upon a Djape book. 300 advanced Sudoku puzzles that are supposed to be very challenging.  $1.99. Available for all non-touch active content Kindle e-readers.

Sliding Tiles is a series of 100 sliding block puzzle games.  Looks very interesting. Grabarchuk always does a good job.   $2.99. Available for all non-touch active content Kindle e-readers.